Construction companies may be keen to snap up more concrete finishing equipment if authorities take the advice of one expert.

According to John Albinger of the Concrete First Coalition, the building material is far more resistant to cold weather than substances such as asphalt.

He stated that water can get between the layers in asphalt roads, which means it expands and contracts when temperatures drop below freezing.

Mr Albinger said that as a result, the surface is weakened.

Concrete, however, is placed in a single layer, which means it is far less vulnerable to damage in wintry conditions.

Mr Albinger added that since asphalt is made from a petroleum product, rising oil prices are pushing up the cost of the material.

As a result, many road departments in the US are considering alternatives such as concrete.

This means that equipment such as concrete tamping tools and roadforms could be more widely used in civil engineering works such as road resurfacing.

Authorities across the UK are already planning to invest in repairing roads after they were damaged in the recent cold snap.